Commission, Task Force or Failure?

I mentioned earlier that President Obama's response to rising gas prices is to appoint a task force. This has been an ongoing theme in his administration: when in doubt, punt responsibility to a group of other people. Well, after punting to a deficit commission last year and then disowning that commission's findings because it didn't jibe with what he wanted, we now have the Biden Task Force to come up with long-term budget solutions.

Last year's commission wasn't successful by its own standards (there were no 'official recommendations' made to Congress), and the Biden Task Force is facing immediate obstacles as well.

“I’m at a loss to understand what the purpose is,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Thursday in an interview. He said Obama had not set a timeline for any decisions, although lawmakers from both parties are calling for some agreement on deficit reduction before the government reaches a limit in the coming months on how much money it can borrow.

Several members said it was unclear whether the commission, to be chaired by Vice President Biden, will become the source of a bipartisan deal on cutting the deficit or simply serve as a diversion while an agreement is quietly negotiated elsewhere.

Anyone have high hopes for yet another commission appointed by Obama to actually get something meaningful done?